Beet-harvesting machine



1. DEVEY. BEET HARVESTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 6, I9IH- J. DEVEY.

BEET HARVESTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION men JULY 6,1918- Patented Feb. 24, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1 EFF-"W355:

l mumnw I amo awtoz 1. DEVEY] am HARVESTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION EILED JULY 6, I918.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE, f

JOHN DEVEY, or mm, UTAH, ASSIGNOB or jrwo-THmns T0. UTAH 111L110 sedan 00., V

or s'AL'r LAKE CITY, UTAH, A oom'o ne'riou or UTAH.

mn'r-nnnvnsrmemicnmn 1 To all whom it"may concern: I I

Be it known that I, Jonu Dnm, :a citizen-of the United States, residing at. in the county and State of -Utah,ihave="1nvented certain new and useful Improvements in BeetsHarvesting Maohi'nes; and I do' hereby :declare the 'ifollow i'ngito be a full,

clear, and exact description of :the. same, reference being had "to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification. This invention relates :to best harvestmg Y -1nachines,-its principal object heing to'ipro vide means for -=conveying the beetsyfrmn the ground, after theyjwhave been dislodged, "to a place either on -thezside or at the, :rear of the. "machine where they :mey be-readily collected.

The invention consists intheeonstruction,

arrangement and oomhinationgof arts-here.- inafter set forth, and the novel sutures 'of the invention will "be particularly g-pointed out :and specified in the claims-"at the end of the specifieetion. r

the. front; of *the. machine.

'Fig. 5 is a detail viewpf "the retaining belt. v v I The main frame of the machine whiohlis indicated by "the :numeral 1 fis. eu'ppoated on the axle 2, hereinafter deferred to the main drive shaft 2, which oarries the usual ground wheels 3. The forward *portion of the main frame I is supported byqcaater wheeled journaled in arsupplemental frame composedv of uprightrside *members "5, 5 'on the'opposite sides of the main frame and transverse members 6,- 6, connecting the vside members 5, 5. To, permit the supplemental frame to be adjusted vertically with respect. to the, --main fmme, each of its side members 5, 5 isslijdably mounted insleeves 7, in the main frame, and each is 'zprovided on one of its side srwith a uertiea'llyveutending seriesof teeth 8 which mesh "with gear wheels -9- on the ends of :a transversely extending shaft 10 rotatably 111101111t8d in the main frame. The supplemental frame is adjusted by rotating hand wheel I l on shaft 4 Specification 'of Letters ratent.

v Application men m 0,1918. Serial Ho. 243,584,

chine. consist of an endless belt 29 composed of Patented Feb; 24, 1920.1

l2which is ,journaled in the main frame 2 and-is provided at its end adjacent shaft l0 with-a worm "13 meshing with a worm wheel '14 on the shaft. I p 3 Mounted in the forward portion of the main frame is a secondsupplemental frame 16,?these two frames being'tied together by a transverse, brace 17; 'The, forward end of the supplemental frame is adapted to vhave the ordinary tongue secured'ithereto and at its rear end there are secured the depending arms 18 on which are mounted the plow points 19, The JplOW points 19 are spaced aparttransVersely of the frame to exert, a pulling action .on "the beets and are inclined rearwardly of the machine *to slightly elevate the beets after they:have beendislodged from-the; earth. a

Means for conveying the beets, after they are dislodged, toward the :rear of themechine, are provided at the rearof the plow points 19, a rearwardly extending inclined worm conveyor 20,, carried by a shaft 21 secured to one of 'thewplow points in any suitable manner, ibeinglillustrated as the preferred means for accomplishing this object. The rear end of the, conveyor shaft 21 is Ijournaled in the rearcross bar 1'' of the main :frame :1 and adjacent its rear end said ShflifiriS provided Withasprocket "wheel 22 adapted to be driven "by a l sprocket chain 23 passing over-a relatively large sprocket whee124- on a counter shaft 25 which is mounted inthe main frame and is driven --by the main drive shaft 2 through cooperating bevelrgears 26 and 27 :mountedon said main and counterwshafts, respectivel y,

To prevent the beetscfrorn falling out of theconveyer 20 there is provided a retaining bar 28 which extends along one-side of the conveyer-20, the front end of the bar being secured to one of the plow points and its. rear end to the-cross member 1 of the main framep As shown, this retaining 28 is located on the side-"of the conveyer to. which the beets will be movedby the rotary-movement of-the latter, bar 28 and the conveyer substantially forming a I trough,

A'seoond means is also provided for retaining the beets in the conveyer during their movement toward the rear of the ma- These additional means preferably two longitudinally:extending belts 30 con- 7 extending, light spring steel straps 31 nected by a plur ality of spaced, transversely adapted, when the'belt'is in position, to en gage the beets and press them lightly into or between the convolutions of the conveyer 20. Belt 29 travels over pulleys'32 and 33 r in a belt frame 34 and is adapted to be actu-.

ated in a manner to be presently described. As shown in the drawings the belt frame 1s suspended from the main frame above the conveyer 20 insuoh manner as to yield up wardly to accommodate beets of varying sizes and to prevent bruising of beets of relatively large size, this-being accomplished by suspending the beet frame on'spiralsprings 35, 35,'wh1ch are attached preferably to the main frame 1 and the seat 36. Mounted on shaft 37 which carries the upper pulley 32 is a sprocket: wheel 38 which is adapted to be driven inthe direction indicated by the .arrow in Fig. 2 by a sprocket wheel 39 mounted on the "main drive shaft 2 through suflicie'nt to" permit a wagon to pass beneathchain under proper tension.

the main frame.

a sprocket chain 40, an idle pulley 41 being mounted on the seat support 42 in contact with the sprocket chain to maintain the r Shaft 37 in the upper end of the belt frame extends transversely of the'machine to the opposite sides 'offthe frame and at its ends is supported by brace rods 43, 43 pivoted on the side members of the main frame. These brace rodsmaintain the belt substantially parallel'to the conveyer 20 and at'the same time permit the entire frame to move toward and from the conveyer for the pur- V poses heretofore mentioned.

' Located below'the rear end of the conveyer 20 is a transverse conveyer belt 44 con- 'structed similarly to belt 29, which projects beyond oneside of the mainframe 1, the

projectingportion preferably extending upwardly from the main. frame to a heig t its outer extremity, Pulley 45 over which the outerend of the belt 44 passes, is IIlOIlIlIh ed on a shaft 461' ournaled in a supplemental frame 47 which extends upwardly from the "side of the main frame 1 and is supported by brace rods 48, 48 secured to the side of The inner end of belt 44 passes over a pulley 49 mounted on a countershaft 50 which is driven by'the main drive shaft 2 through cooperating bevel .gears 26, 51, mounted on the main and counter-shafts respectively. A; loosely mounted pul'ley52 is located between the reaches of the belt intermediate the. pulleys 45 and 49 and an idle pulley 53 is positioned on the outer side of the belt adjacent the loose pulley to hold the conveyer under proper tenslon. 7' g While I have shown a machine capable of digging only one row of beets at a time, if

- desired a machine embodying the present improvement and capable of digging two or more rows at a single operation may readily be constructed by duplicating the plow points, conveyer .20, and retaining belts 29, the conveyers and retaining belts being actuated from the main drive shaft 2 in the manner heretofore described and adapted to de a liver the beets onto the transverse belt 44.

In the drawings, I have shown certain specific details for. accomplishing probably the best results, and in the foregoing specification have described such details. It will be evident, however, that Ineed not be limited thereto otherwise than to the extent to which the'following claims limit me. What is claimed is: a.

'1. In a beetharve'sting machine, the combination with. the mainframe, of beet pulling members mounted on said frame, means for conveying the beets rearwardlyfrom the pulling members, means for retaining the beets in the conveyer on oneside of the latter, beet retaining means above the convey ing means, supporting means for the last mentioned retaining'means yieldingly sus pended in close proximity to the conveying means,=said supporting means being movable toward and away from'the conveying:

means throughout their lengthyand means for conveying the beets transverselyvof the main frame located adjacent the rear end of the first mentioned conveying means for frame.

conveyingthe beets transversely of the main 1 -.3.- In a beet harvesting machine, the combinationwith the mainframe, of beet pullmg members carried thereby, 1 conveying means for conveying the beets away from the pulling members, a frame yieldingly suspended above the'conveyer means, said frame being movable toward and away from the conveymgmeans throughout its length, and retaining means carried by 'the'frame and positioned immediatelyabove the con- .veyer means. 7 w

4. In a beet harvesting machine the comblnation w1th the main frame, of beetpull- 'in'gmembers mounted on said frame, means for conveying the beets rearwardly from the pulling members, means for retaining the beetsin the conveying-means on one side of the latter, beet retaining-means above, the conveyer, resilient'suspension members supporting the last mentioned retaining means in proximity to the conveying means, and

transverse conveying means located adjacent the rear end of the first mentioned con-- veying means. i

5. In a beet harvesting machine, the combination with the main frame, of beet pulling members mounted on said frame, a worm conveyer attached to one of the pull- 7 ing members, beet retaining means mounted on the other pulling member and extending along one side of the conveyer, a frame, a

supporting said frame immediately above the conveyer,

6. In a beet harvesting machine, the combination of a main frame, beet pulling members carried thereby, conveying means for conveying the beets away from the pulling members, a frame, beet retaining means carried thereby, and resilient suspension members supporting said frame with the retaining means immediately above the conveying means.

JOHN DEVEY. 

